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F1's inaugural Qatar Grand Prix will be held at the Losail International Circuit outside Doha and feature a regular schedule of three practice sessions, qualifying, and the race. The 20th round of the 2021 season will be one of two brand new races introduced this year, with another scheduled to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, early next month.
The new circuit features 16 turns, only one DRS zone, and a main straight of over a kilometer in length. The 5.380-km long track promises to be a pivotal battleground for the two championship protagonists, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Currently, only 14 points separate the two contenders, with Verstappen in the lead, while Mercedes are ahead of Red Bull F1 in the constructors' standings by 11 points.
Qatar Grand Prix to feature regular qualifying session
The Qatar Grand Prix will see a traditional system of qualifying to set the grid for the main race rather than the sprint race format which was employed at the 2021 Brazilian GP. The weekend will also feature three practice sessions, as is standard for every non-sprint race weekend.
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The teams will try out a variety of combinations of setups and simulations during practice sessions on Friday and Saturday to try and understand how the cars will perform on this new track.
Qualifying will follow a standard three-segment format, with qualifying one (Q1) eliminating the bottom-five drivers, qualifying two (Q2) eliminating the next five slowest, before qualifying three (Q3) sets the grid order for the top 10 drivers. Qualifying lasts for an hour, with Q1 lasting 18 minutes, Q2 for 15 minutes and Q3 the shortest, at just 12 minutes.
TV schedule for F1 Qatar Grand Prix qualifying session
The following is the TV schedule for the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix qualifying sessions:
USA: 9:00 am ET
UK: 2:00 pm GMT
India: 7:30 pm IST
Where can you stream qualifying of the F1 2021 Qatar Grand Prix?
USA: ESPN and ESPN Deportes
UK: Sky Sports F1
India: Star Sports Select, Star Sports Select HD 2, and Disney Hotstar+
